Six beaches near popular Spanish holiday destination Barcelona were closed following a shark scare.

Three blue sharks measuring between one and 1.5 metres were seen not far from the shore by lifeguards on Tuesday, Sky News reported.

Beach-goers were banned from sunbathing and swimming at the beaches in the Premia del Mar and El Masnou resorts after the local town halls deemed it too dangerous.

Hasina Ahmad of the Red Cross said: “Three sharks of about one to one and a half meters in length were spotted near the area where people swim up to two meters from the shore, very close. They could be seen from the beach."

There were no further shark sightings and authorities reopened the beaches on Wednesday.

However, a spokesperson said two of the charity’s patrol boats would continue to be on the lookout.

Blue sharks are not known to go out of their way to attack humans but will fight to the death if threatened.